Editorial

The reign of motor park louts

RECENTLY, a media report detailed the growing menace of motor park miscreants at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, a city otherwise known for its beauty and serenity, saying that it had become a nightmare for motorists and passengers alike. According to the report, louts in Abuja, brandishing identity cards of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), have gained notoriety for harassing, intimidating and extorting money from unsuspecting victims at major bus stops and on highways in the FCT. Places such as Area 3, Area 10, Banex Junction, Berger Roundabout and Wuse Market, said the report, have become hot spots for these louts who seem to operate with impunity, their modus operandi being to invade vehicles, blocking the road and surrounding them, removing the backseat, and demanding that the driver pay a huge sum of money, usually not less than N20,000, for the vehicle to be released. Drivers and passengers unfortunate enough to encounter these louts have been sharing harrowing tales.

Said a driver, who simply identified herself as Mrs Mary: “I was dropping off a friend at Area 3 when these louts pounced on my vehicle. They claimed that I had parked in a no-parking zone, which was not true. They demanded that I pay N18,000, and when I refused, they threatened to damage my vehicle. I had to call a friend who intervened before they would let me go.” Another victim, a passenger, said: “I was travelling from Lagos to Abuja and had to drop off at Berger Roundabout. As I was about to disembark (from the vehicle he had boarded), these louts rushed into the vehicle, claiming that the driver had not paid some sort of tax. They demanded that we all pay N5,000 each, or else they would not allow the vehicle to move. It was a traumatic experience and I had to part with my hard-earned money to avoid any trouble.”

The FCT and Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) authorities are aware of the problem, and have been justly panned for their perceived inaction. Kingsley Madaki, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the AMAC chairman, said the council had received reports of louts extorting money from motorists but asserted that these louts were not staffers of the council. Hear him: “Those hoodlums on the roads are not AMAC staff. The chairman has said that whenever such people are seen harassing individuals, the police should be called to arrest them. We have arrested some in the past and they often claim to operate under FCT, DOAS or the Transport Secretariat. Our staffers are not on the road because they are well-trained; they are not louts like those who harass and extort drivers. We do not have any of our staff harassing people. Sometimes, people misunderstand these NURTW hoodlums for AMAC staff and it is not so.” Members of the NURTW have often denied their members’ involvement in the extortion racket on major roads in the FCT and other states, but motorists consistently tell a different story.

In previous editorials, we deplored the state of motor parks across the country, saying that they painted a picture of grime and filth. We have not been persuaded to change our view that in the absence of waste bins, the parks have been effectively transformed into dumpsites. According to a report, “Plastic bottles, food wrappers, and discarded newspapers were scattered haphazardly across the landscape, while the strong stench of decaying garbage intertwined with the fumes of idling vehicles, creating an oppressive atmosphere that clung to the crowded spaces like an unwelcome veil.” From Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, to the FCT, the political capital, the situation is virtually the same.

Over the years, motor park louts had acquired notoriety for their nefarious activities in motor parks across the country. Operating just like political thugs, they are known to demand various sums from drivers at the parks, often after they have helped such drivers to fill up the vehicles with passengers by blaring their destinations to whoever cares to hear, and then visiting violence on them (drivers) where they fail to meet up with the demands. Often smoking marijuana and drinking hard drinks, they act as the enforcers of certain lords in the parks, threatening anyone opposed to their activities with raw violence. Indeed, given the tone of their utterances and the nature of their activities, it is fair to surmise that they are in the parks with the knowledge or even connivance of the leadership. Indeed, because of their familiarity with the activities of louts in the parks, Nigerian filmmakers have sought over the years to capture their essence in movies. A prime example of such movies is the 2022 Netflix comedy, U-turn, a work of art which, among other thematic preoccupations, shows the primacy of louts in the Nigerian transport systems.

In recent times, there have been noticeable changes in some of the parks, with public address systems rather than louts used to attract passengers. It is, however, distressing that the spectre of motor park louts has continued to hang over the country’s parks. With regard to the FCT, it is indeed a tragedy that despite being the seat of the Federal Government, the territory is in the vice grip of miscreants. It is a terrible development, and the leadership of the transport unions operating in the various parks cannot claim ignorance of their existence or activities. The transport union leaders must conduct the affairs of their unions in such a way that any semblance of thuggery or violence and disorderliness will be completely eliminated at the parks. It is disingenuous to keep denying the activities of louts when they are literally everywhere.

The fact is understood that most of the motor park louts actually work for politicians during elections, but no country that wants to be acknowledged as a modern society can keep tolerating their existence. That is why the government must clean up the parks. As we have said in previous editorials, miscreants cannot be revenue agents. Parks ought to be supervised by local councils but governors have hijacked them because of the huge revenue base. The parks often reek of marijuana smoke and are extremely filthy, and the governors would do well to take a second look at them and rid them of stench and miscreants. In the case of the FCT, we find the excuses by the authorities completely untenable. Refusing to rid the territory of motor park louts amounts to effectively endorsing their lawless activities. No two ways about it.

Tribune Editorial Board